The music industry is mourning the death of legendary Midnight Oil drummer Rob Hirst, who has died aged 70 followed an almost three-year battle with pancreatic cancer.
Hirst is survived by his wife Lesley Holland and daughters Gabriella, Lex and Jay.
“After fighting heroically for almost three years, Rob is now free of pain – ‘a glimmer of tiny light in the wilderness’,” his bandmates said in a statement posted to Midnight Oil’s social media channels.
“He died peacefully, surrounded by loved ones. The family asks that anyone wanting to honour Rob donate to @pankind_australia or @supportact.”
One of Australia’s most revered musicians, whose influence extended well beyond national borders, Hirst was born on September 3, 1955. He spent his early years in Camden in Sydney’s outer west before his family later relocated to the northern beaches.
After playing in various high school bands, Hirst co-founded what would become Midnight Oil in 1972 with longtime friend Jim Moginie.
The group, initially known as Farm, was soon joined by frontman Peter Garrett and guitarist Martin Rotsey – a lineup that would remain the core of the band for the next five decades.
Hirst and Moginie initially formed as the band’s songwriting core, with Garrett later joining them as part of the group’s creative engine room.
Renowned for his formidable power behind the drum kit – and later for his iconic performances on a steel water tank during The Power and the Passion – Hirst helped forge Midnight Oil’s reputation as one of the most incendiary live acts of the pub rock era in the 1970s and 1980s.
They were quick to distinguish themselves from other Aussie pub rock bands of the time through their unapologetic musical activism, openly challenging politicians and corporate power while becoming passionate advocates for the rights of Indigenous Australians.
Although he was modest about his singing voice, Hirst’s distinctive vocals became a defining harmonic element of the Oils’ sound. He also took on lead vocal duties for tracks including Kosciuszko.
Hirst released his final music project in November last year – a deeply personal EP titled A Hundred Years or More – alongside Moginie and fellow drummer Hamish Stuart.
At the time, he said he was “lucky” to have enjoyed a music career spanning more than six decades, during which he continued to write and perform not only with Midnight Oil but also through numerous side projects, including Ghostwriters and the Backsliders.
He had recently attended the 70th birthday celebration of Ghostwriters bandmate and Hoodoo Gurus member Rick Grossman and recalled how grateful he felt for a life shaped by music.
“At Rick Grossman’s big birthday, Reg Mombassa and members of the Gurus were there, Hamish and Jim were there, and we’re all around talking about how lucky we were that all our bands landed in the late 70s, early 80s, when people were tribally loyal to the bands they loved,” Hirst said.
“They went out every night and supported us and we could then afford great PAs and light
“It was before all the pubs closed down and Spotify and Live Nation and AI and all these terrible things that have become obstacles for new musicians coming up.
“God, how lucky were we? So we might be legends, but we’ve been very lucky legends.”
Beyond his family and bandmates, Hirst’s greatest love was the Australian ocean and bushland.
A committed environmental campaigner in both his music and his personal life, he swam daily at the dog beach near his Manly home.
“I tell you what, swimming in salt water is just not to be underestimated. It’s the best tonic,” he said in November.
“I’m very lucky here, you know, to be down close to the harbour and it’s just a walk through a bit of bush and then I can throw myself in with all the dogs at the little beach.
“The locals call it Dog Beach, because one of the few places they’re not chased off by a ranger. And yeah, we’re very lucky. We found this place, you know, almost 40 years ago.”
Hirst was also proud to have shared his music with all three of his daughters. Gabriella and Lex contributed vocals to A Hundred Years or More, while he released the album The Lost and the Found with Jay O’Shea in 2020.
That release came a decade after father and daughter reunited, following O’Shea’s adoption as an infant after her birth mother fell pregnant as a teenager.
Hirst was diagnosed with stage three pancreatic cancer in April 2023, just six months after Midnight Oil played their final show at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion in October 2022.
Images: Instagram
